The five kiosks that were installed at parking lots about one month ago have yet to be turned on, and signs have yet to be posted near them. It's going to be a while for both of those things to happen, signs first of course. The warranty covering those kiosks isn't really doing them (or us) any good, is it? 5 valuable kiosks, each with a potentially useful warranty and each covered in a plastic bag for nearly a month. (The kiosk shown above is for the city-owned lot at 325 Columbia, used by the Columbia County Mental Health center during the week. The plan is for that kiosk to only be used on Saturdays and Sundays for the few people who currently park in the lot for free on weekends, including overnight. This was, apparently, our Police Chief's idea. Bigger issue: Why has the city not sold that lot to the county?)
And what about the warranty for the other eleven $10,000 kiosks still in storage for the past 7 months (since early February) that aren't anywhere near Warren Street and won't be anytime soon? If they are still in storage come February 2026, will our two parking professionals decide that they had better extend the warranty on those kiosks as well, just in case they ever make their way to a city sidewalk and get turned on to be used by people parking downtown?
Why would anyone buy a car knowing they aren't going to need it anytime soon, then store it in a garage and go out and buy car insurance anyway? I understand that the one-year warranty for the 16 kiosks is free, but it's really not free unless the kiosks are operating, is it? With each passing day, week and month of no progress for all 16 kiosks, it appears that the only warranty covering them is going to cost the city tax revenue, because the first year of useful warranty will not be free. You can't take advantage of a warranty if you aren't actually using the product under warranty, can you? If the kiosks aren't being used, they can't break down and get warrantied service, can they? This is just plain idiocy in action.
It would be interesting to hear how satisfied City Treasurer Heather Campbell is with the progress of the kiosk rollout, including the issue of the 16 wasted warranties, 5 of them covered in plastic in the hot sun (and occasional rain) and 11 of them still gathering dust in storage on Dock Street.
I don't know about Heather's take on the kiosks (though maybe she'll weigh in on the issue at next week's informal meeting), but this whole thing smells of fiscal irresponsibility -- now, for the past several months and well into the foreseeable future.
Here is my prediction: Sometimes next year, to stem the losses (and possibly for other reasons), the plug will be pulled on the kiosk project, with any kiosks that are on the sidewalks returned to storage or sent to a landfill. Should my prediction come about, the questions are: who will make the decision to be done with the kiosks; who will take the blame for this fiscal fiasco and shameful waste of time; and how can we make sure nothing like this ever happens again?
The answer to the last question is obvious: WE NEED SOMEONE SMART MANAGING THE CITY. OR WE ARE DOOMED! My guess is that most department heads would rather not have someone looking over their shoulders making sure they aren't screwing up or squandering tax revenue. You know, someone paying attention to who is doing what (or not enough) and how they spend their allotted monies. Someone trying to prevent mistakes and poor decision making. Like the foolish decision to get rid of all of our parking meters and rely on $10,000 parking kiosks instead.
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